Tennis Lessons
by dazzling-rainfall
Summary: Seventeen year old Ryoma comes back from America, and he ends up giving Sakuno tennis lessons again. Take a look at how their relationship grows through the tennis lessons they share. Ch. 7 - "I didn't know you wanted me that bad," he smirked.
1. Chapter 1

"Oi, Seishounen," Nanjiroh called his seventeen year old son over to him.

"What do you want, Oyaji?" Ryoma lazily answered.

"Don't forget about that meeting you have with that old hag this afternoon," he reminded his son with a smirk.

"Hai," he sighed.

"That pretty granddaughter of hers will probably be there too. At least you won't have to be with the old hag by yourself," Ryoma's father smirked.

"Baka."

"Her granddaughter is quite beautiful, Ryoma. She always was so pretty, but you were so dense back then. "

"Che, whatever," he commented back. And he wasn't that dense—he always knew the Coach's granddaughter was pretty, but, really, he was only a twelve year old boy at the time!

"Ah! When is my son going to grow up?! When are you going to start noticing those girls chasing after you?!" Nanjiroh dramatically cried.

"Ugh, Oyaji!" Ryoma glared. In truth, Ryoma did notice girls. He noticed some were pretty, some were not. Some were energetic, some were boring. Some were really aggressive and would walk right up to him, and some would faint upon first sight of seeing him. And he also noticed that _all_ of these girls that chased after him were really annoying. "I have other things I need to focus on, like tennis," he answered his father.

"There's more to life than just tennis, boy. You have been gone for four years in America, so you have missed seeing that pretty Sakuno girl grow into a beautiful young woman," Nanjiroh told him, actually sounding wise for once.

Ryoma knew that there was more to life than just tennis. He wasn't as dense as what everybody thought, he just doesn't like to show it. Honestly, though, he was content with his life being just tennis for now. Nothing else had ever captured his interest quite like tennis did. Well, not yet, anyway.

"I'm going now. Ja," he said bye to his father.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Ryoma knocked on Coach Ryuuzaki's front door.

"Well, hello, Ryoma!" Sumire greeted him. "Come on in. I really am so glad you could come meet me today."

"Hn," he responded.

"Have a seat," she told him as they entered the kitchen. She gave him some tea. "So, first of all, welcome back from America, Ryoma."

"Thanks," he replied.

"Have you seen any of your old Seigaku teammates yet?" she asked.

"No, but I'm going to play tennis with them later tonight."

"Oh, all of them? Are you sure you can take on all of them at once?" she smirked.

"Che, are they all the same as they were before I left?" he asked.

"Most definitely," Sumire said.

"Hn, then yes, I can take them all on. Mada mada dane," Ryoma smirked.

"Haha," she laughed at the cockiness he still had. "They have been so excited for you to return back to Japan. Actually, they were hoping you could give them a few pointers since you have played on the professional tour."

Ryoma smirked again, "Hn, I suppose I can school them."

"That is actually what I wanted to talk to you about--tennis lessons," she stated, finally getting to the point.

"You want me to give my old teammates tennis lessons?" he asked confused. He was sure they couldn't be that bad. Heck, he knows they're not that bad—he used to play with them!

Sumire chuckled, "No, not for the former Seigaku Regulars, but for Sakuno."

Ryoma's eyes widened. He could not believe he was going to get stuck with giving Sakuno tennis lessons _again_.

"Now, I know what you're thinking, Ryoma," Coach Ryuuzaki explained, "but Sakuno really is not all that bad at tennis anymore. She's been practicing. Seigaku cut the girls' team the year Sakuno could have joined. Sakuno hasn't been able to play for quite some time now, and she greatly misses it. She always wants me to go practice with her, but with my old age I'm afraid I can't run around as much anymore. And I don't want her to stop playing, though, either. She's gotten too good to stop now."

Ryoma, always thinking about doing whatever it takes when it comes to tennis, asked Sumire, "You could have asked my father to teach her. That way she could have been practicing for awhile now. Why haven't you asked him?"

"Baka!" Sumire bumped him on his head with her fist. "Do you really think I'm going to leave my granddaughter with that perverted old man of yours?"

"Hn," Ryoma agreed.

"And," she continued, "I don't really want the Seigaku regulars to train her either. Taka is too intimidating when he has a racket in his hand. I'm sure Sakuno would not survive any of Inui's deluxe juices. Eiji has too much energy to be responsible. Kaidoh is too intimidating—even without a racket in his hand. The sadistic side of Fuji can never be trusted. Oishi is too motherly and probably wouldn't let Sakuno train with the intensity she needs. Tezuka is in Germany again. And Momo…well, he's just Momo."

"Hn," Ryoma said again.

"So, Ryoma, will you give her lessons?" Coach Ryuuzaki asked for the second time.

Ryoma thought it through for a moment. He really was curious to see if clumsy Sakuno really did become a better tennis player. Usually he wouldn't do this sort of thing—to agree to give lessons to a girl he hardly knew. For some reason, though, he started to remember the times when she would silently cheer for him behind the fence when he was twelve. He remembered the time when she ran up to him at the airport before he left to go to America. She was so sad because she thought she missed him. When all of these memories rushed back to him and flooded his mind, he just couldn't ignore the fact that she was a big part of his past, although he would never admit that to anyone.

"Hai," he agreed.

Then they heard the door being opened and the sound of shoes being kicked off onto the floor.

"Obaa-chan, I'm home!" Sakuno said as she walked to the kitchen. Looking at the table, she not only saw her obaa-chan, but also the boy she had had a crush on five years ago before he left for America.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" she exclaimed, surprised.


	2. Chapter 2

"Obaa-chan, I'm home!" Sakuno said as she walked to the kitchen. Looking at the table, she not only saw her obaa-chan, but also the boy she had had a crush on five years ago before he left for America.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" she exclaimed, surprised.

Ryoma had to catch his breath when he saw Sakuno walking into the kitchen. Five years can really make a difference, he realized. Sakuno looked _beautiful_. She still had her long satiny brown hair that hung loosely down her back; the ends of her hair had little ringlets. Her eyes were bright and shiny. She didn't wear any make-up, which showed off her natural beauty. Sakuno's skin looked so soft. She had a slim figure of that of a tennis player. Her legs were long and looked like they belonged to a model. 'Heck,' he thought, 'Sakuno _was_ a model.'

When Sakuno first saw Ryoma, her heart started beating faster. She felt heat rush up to her cheeks as she felt herself blush uncontrollably. Ryoma had grown up…a lot. He was now considered not only cute, like he was when he was a young boy, but now he was _hot_. He was, literally, tall, dark, and handsome. Ryoma was six feet tall now. His skin was tan from being out in the sun as an athlete. And he was handsome all right. His face was very angular, which showed off his strong jawbone. The golden cat-like eyes could still smolder anybody that looked at him. His messy, dark green hairstyle made him look even more handsome.

The two stared at each other for a long time. Sumire coughed to break the silenced, surprised stares.

"So, Sakuno, is that how you're going to welcome Ryoma back from America, by ogling him?" Sumire asked.

"A-Ah! O-Obaa-chan!" Sakuno blushed a deep red.

Ryoma smirked at her.

"G-Gomen, R-Ryoma-kun. Welcome back," she shyly said.

"Hn," he responded.

"Sakuno, Ryoma agreed to give you some tennis lessons again. Isn't that nice?" Sakuno's grandmother informed her.

"W-What? Tennis lessons?" she asked confused.

"She says you're good now," Ryoma told her. "I bet you're still mada mada dane, though." He smirked at her.

"Mou!" Sakuno complained. "R-Ryoma-kun! I r-really am a b-better tennis player now!"

"Che, whatever," Ryoma replied trying to look bored, but his eyes were full of teasing.

Then he got back to business. "Tennis lessons start tomorrow morning at eight." Then he got up and started to walk towards the door. When he reached the door, he stopped, and, with his back still facing her, he said, "Oh, Ryuuzaki, don't be late. Ja." He raised his hand in the air to wave "bye," and he left.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"RYOMA-SAMA IS BACK?!" squealed Sakuno's best friend, Tomoka. After Ryoma left, Sakuno went up to her room to tell Tomoka the news.

"Ouch, Tomo-chan, keep it down," Sakuno laughed at her friend's enthusiasm.

"So, what was Ryoma-sama doing at your house?" Tomoka asked curiously.

"Obaa-chan wanted him to give me tennis lessons, which I was totally unaware of until just now! Mou!" Sakuno complained.

"AAAHH!!! You get tennis lessons from Ryoma-sama?! Sakuno-chan, I'm so jealous!"

"But I don't understand why Obaa-chan is letting Ryoma-kun teach me—she wouldn't let me practice with the other Regulars before," Sakuno wondered.

"Ah, who cares? Sakuno, Ryoma-sama is going to be your tennis instructor! Do you know what this means??!"

"A-Ano, that I'll become a lot better at tennis?" Sakuno answered cluelessly.

"Sakuno-chan! No! This means that you can get close to Ryoma-sama now that he's back and finally confess!"

"T-Tomo-chan!! I-I'm not going to confess! Ryoma-kun doesn't even like me," she blushed. "B-Besides, it's been five years, I'm s-supposed to be over him by now."

"But are you really over him, Sakuno?" Tomoka smirked.

"A-Ano…I don't know, Tomo-chan. It's e-embarrassing. What kind of girl likes a guy she hasn't seen or even talked to in five years? I barely even talked to him before he left for America! Mou, Tomo-chan, why do I like him so much? I seriously think I'm going crazy," Sakuno complained.

"Hehe, Sakuno, it's okay to like Ryoma-sama. And the reason why you like him so much is because you love him," Tomoka explained.

"B-But I can't l-love him. This is getting me nowhere…I will get over him Tomo-chan! Even if he is going to give me tennis lessons, I can get over him!" Sakuno tried to pump herself up.

"Okay, Sakuno-chan, but I don't think it's going to work…I'm very positive you are in love with him," Tomoka told her.

"Mou, I'm hopeless, Tomo-chan," cried Sakuno.

"It's okay, Sakuno, just be yourself! When do you start your lessons?"

"Tomorrow. Speaking of which, I should probably go to bed now to get some sleep. I'm not sure how tough Ryoma-kun's lessons are going to be, so I should get as much sleep as I should get."

"Ok, goodnight, Sakuno-chan!"

"Goodnight, Tomoka," Sakuno said bye to her friend and hung up the phone. Then she went to bed and went to sleep the minute her head touched her pillow.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%5

*Beep*Beep*Beep*

Sakuno's alarm clock went off. She jumped out of bed; she didn't want to be late to her first tennis lesson with Ryoma-kun. She ate her breakfast, got dressed, and did her hair all in a record of ten minutes.

"Bye, Obaa-chan! I'm going now!" Sakuno waved goodbye.

"Make sure you listen carefully to Ryoma's advice, Sakuno. He is a pro, you know, and he knows what he's doing," her grandmother told her.

"I will, Obaa-chan," she said as she headed out the door.

While she was on her way to the tennis courts, she ran into one of her classmates. It was the most popular guy from her English class.

"Hi, Ryuuzaki, where are you going?" the guy looked her up and down. "You're too pretty to be walking alone down the streets, you know," he flirted.

"A-Ano, s-sorry, I'm in a hurry," Sakuno said.

From the distance, Ryoma, who was waiting at the tennis courts, looked up and saw Sakuno coming. Then, however, he noticed that she stopped walking and was talking to some guy. He saw that she looked flustered and didn't really want to talk to him.

"Wait, hold up now, _Sakuno-chan_, shouldn't you be working on that English project that's due tomorrow? I can help you. In fact, I have all day," the guy said, getting closer to her.

"N-No thank you, I'm fine working on it on my own," she tried getting away from him, but he held onto her arms.

"I'm really good at English, but that's not the only thing I'm good at," he said, dropping his head almost touching his lips to hers.

"Hn, I'm really good at English, too. Maybe she'll want my help instead," said a familiar voice. Upon hearing another male voice, the guy holding onto Sakuno quickly let go and backed away.

"R-Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno gasped, relieved that he was here to save her.

"And who are you?" the guy asked.

"Does it matter?" Ryoma asked.

"Are you Sakuno's boyfriend? 'Cuz if not, I'm pretty interested," the guy said jealously.

"Well, if I am, it seems that you are _not_ interested in her anymore. Got it?" Ryoma threatened dangerously.

The other guy gulped upon seeing Ryoma's death glare. "H-Hai!" he said and ran away.

Then Ryoma turned to Sakuno.

"R-Ryoma-kun, a-arigatou!" she bowed.

"Hn," he responded.

"R-Really, thank you s-so much. I-I'm s-sorry I'm such a burden," she said apologetically. "G-Gomen, Ryo—"

"It's fine, Ryuuzaki," Ryoma interrupted. Sakuno looked up at him and blushed. Seeing her blush, Ryoma smirked at her. They entered the tennis courts. "But something else is not fine, Ryuuzaki. You were late." Sakuno blushed deeper and Ryoma's smirk only grew wider.


	3. Chapter 3

Sakuno looked up at Ryoma, wondering what he was going to make her do as punishment for being late.

"Because you were late," Ryoma started, "you won't be practicing with me today; you'll be hitting against the wall."

"B-But, Ryoma-kun! That's n-not a very g-good p-practice!" Sakuno complained. Ryoma only smirked at her.

"Well, don't be late next time, Ryuuzaki," he said.

"Mou!"

"Well, go get started," he said, bored already.

Sakuno walked over to where the wall was and started to warm-up. First she practiced her forehands, then her backhands. She hit the ball one hundred times consecutively on each stroke. Ryoma watched her, amazed that this girl who sucked at tennis five years ago could actually keep the ball in play now. He watched her form, which had improved tremendously. "Eh, not bad," he admitted.

"Ryoma-kun, d-do I really have to hit against the wall? It's so boring!" Sakuno pouted, pulling a sad face on him. Well, Sakuno wasn't even trying to pull a sad face—she was just innocently asking Ryoma an honest question. Her eyebrows were raised above her hopeful eyes. She wore a slight frown, and strands of her hair framed her face.

'Dang,' Ryoma thought upon seeing her "sad face," 'this girl can really get what she wants.'

"I'll teach you something new…but you're still hitting against the wall," he told her, not wanting to give in completely to the girl.

"Okay," Sakuno compromised.

"I want you to learn the slice shot. It's a shot that adds underspin to the ball to keep it low," he explained in an authoritative teaching voice.

"You need to bend your knees and stay low throughout the entire shot. Start with your racket up high, carve underneath the ball, and end up with your racket low, like this," he said and demonstrated what he was talking about. "Got it?" he asked.

"H-Hai," Sakuno responded. She turned back to the wall and tried hitting with slice. The first shot she hit, the ball went flying up in the air.

"Keep low throughout the shot. That will help to not send the ball flying upwards," Ryoma critiqued her.

Sakuno blushed at the fact that Ryoma saw her embarrassing hit. She wanted to show him how much she improved over the years, not show how much she could make herself look like an idiot.

She kept trying again and again, with only a little success. Ryoma, however, noticed the look of determination in her eyes. Sakuno was working hard. She was even biting her lip from concentrating so hard, which, Ryoma thought, made her look too dang appealing. 'Was she always this alluring when she was determined?' he wondered. 'How did I not notice her before?'

"You're carving the ball too dramatically. Try lessening that up a bit," he coached her again, enjoying watching her determined face.

Sakuno lessened the carve, but the ball went straight down and hit the ground instead of the wall.

"Here," Ryoma said, walking up to her, "let me help you." He stood behind Sakuno and placed his hands on top of hers. Ryoma felt Sakuno stiffen at the contact, and she blushed. "What? Are you shy, Ryuuzaki?" he smirked, teasing her.

"N-No!" she denied, unconvincingly.

Then he guided her motion by holding onto her hands.

"R-Ryoma-kun, h-how a-about you just take my r-racket and sh-show me?" Sakuno stuttered.

He smirked again, seeing how shy Sakuno still was. He remembered back when they were twelve that she was always shy around him; he liked that he could still make Sakuno stutter, even though it had been five years since the last time they've seen each other.

"Show you? You know, Ryuuzaki, most girls would _kill_ to have this kind of close attention from me," he said seductively in her ear.

Sakuno blushed harder. "W-Well, I'm n-not most g-girls!" she countered.

"And how are you not like most girls?" he asked her, enjoying seeing Sakuno flustered.

"I-I'm not like m-most girls in that I d-don't l-like you anymore, R-Ryoma-kun!" she blurted out without thinking. Then she covered her mouth after she realized what she just said.

Ryoma smirked at her. "You don't like me _anymore_? I don't think that's true, Ryuuzaki. You still stutter and blush constantly when I'm around, and, as I recall, you always used to do that when you liked me five years ago. So, are you positive you don't like me anymore, Ryuuzaki?"

"I-I'm p-positive," she still stuttered.

"Maybe I can change your mind," he breathed in her hear.

"I'm n-not changing m-my mind," Sakuno said weakly.

"Mada mada dane, Ryuuzaki. We'll see about that." Ryoma let go of her arms and stared into her eyes. Sakuno saw a gleam go through them. The expression in his eyes looked just like they did five years ago when Sakuno saw that Ryoma was determined to win a tennis match. Sakuno gasped, knowing that whenever Ryoma had that dangerous gleam in his eyes, he would never lose. Her eyes widened as she then realized that no matter how hard she tried not to like him, Ryoma was determined to win. And Echizen Ryoma always wins.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, how did your tennis lesson go with Ryoma-sama?" Tomoka asked Sakuno over the phone.

"A-Ano, it went well, I guess," Sakuno replied.

"Did you confess to him?"

"Eh?! Tomo-chan, no!" Sakuno blushed as she recalled today's earlier events. She can't believe she let it slip out that she used to like him. She blushed even harder as she remembered Ryoma's response to that. He could tell she still liked him. Was she really that easy to read? Mou!

"Just kidding, Sakuno-chan. I wouldn't expect you to confess on the first day. I expect you to tell him after you get to know him more, so maybe like tomorrow!"

"Mou, Tomo-chan, I'm not going to confess to him. In fact, I'm going to do the opposite; I'm going to get over him," Sakuno said, only half-way determined.

"Okay, Sakuno," Tomoka replied unconvinced, "if that's what you really want to do. Honestly, though, Sakuno, do you really think it's going to work?"

"I can do this…I have to do this," Sakuno said, mostly to convince herself. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Tomo-chan."

"Okay, bye."

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The next morning, Sakuno walked to the courts extra early to make sure she'd be at tennis practice on time. When she reached the courts, she saw that Ryoma was there already, practicing his serve. 'I thought I came early?' she asked herself, checking the time on her cell phone. According to her cell phone, she was half an hour early.

Sakuno decided to quietly watch Ryoma serving, observing his graceful form. Watching him behind the fence reminded her of five years ago, when she would watch her crush play tennis every day. Soon, she was off in memory lane.

Little did she know, while Sakuno was staring blankly ahead because she was in memory lane, that Ryoma saw her behind the fence. He secretly glanced at her in between every serve, and she was still watching. Ryoma smirked after he finished serving all the tennis balls he had, and looked back at the fence to see Ryuuzaki still staring at him.

"Ryuuzaki," he said.

She didn't answer, but was still staring straight at him. Ryoma just smirked again and walked up to the fence, right in front of her.

"Ryuuzaki, you're staring at me," Ryoma finally broke through Sakuno's thoughts.

"Oh, R-Ryoma-kun! Gomen," Sakuno apologized, but blushed a vicious red. 'Mou, how embarrassing,' she thought.

"Why were you staring at me?" he asked.

"I-I wasn't staring! I-I just got here early, so I d-decided to watch you play until l-lessons started."

"Hn, looked more like staring to me. Do you find me to be easy on the eyes?" he teased.

Sakuno blushed even harder, "N-No! Th-That's not it! I w-was just watching you play tennis!"

Ryoma smirked at her, seeing her blush and stutter, "Sure, Ryuuzaki, whatever you say. Well, come on inside, it's time to start your lesson."

Sakuno walked inside the court and got her tennis racket out.

"Since you're actually here on time, I can give you a real lesson. But to warm up first, start by hitting against the wall," Ryoma began.

Sakuno walked over to the wall and began to hit some groundstrokes. Ryoma leaned back on the fence with his arms above his head to rest. He watched her warm up. While he was watching her, he remembered the times he used to teach her tennis five years ago. 'Hair's too long,' he remembered. Smirking, he decided to say that to her later on during practice, just to see if she would still respond the same way.

"Ryoma-kun, I'm done warming up now," Sakuno turned back to tell him. However, Ryoma didn't hear her; he was still reminiscing about five years ago.

"R-Ryoma-kun, why a-are you s-staring at m-me?" Sakuno asked nervously. This got Ryoma's attention back again.

Trying to hide his own blush, Ryoma lowered his cap over his eyes, "Hn," he smirked, "It seems you're a little easy on the eyes yourself, Ryuuzaki."

Sakuno blushed and looked away. Ryoma lightly chuckled at her response.

Ryoma walked past Sakuno and raised his hand and motioned for her to follow. "Today you're going to work on consistency. Using more topspin will help keep the ball in more often. I'll show you an example." Then he added in a smirking tone, "Watching my example should be easy for you, since apparently you enjoy staring at me."

"Mou, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno pouted.

Ryoma continued to example the shots and form she was to use. "Okay, now go over to that side of the court and rally with me, keeping the ball in."

Sakuno went over to the other side of the court and began to rally with Ryoma. After five consecutive shots, Sakuno hit the next one into the net.

"Hn, try again," Ryoma said and fed her another ball.

This time they got to ten shots before Sakuno hit it out.

"Let's try to hit twenty shots consecutively. Don't worry about your power, just focus on getting it in," Ryoma said.

They got to ten again before Sakuno messed up.

Ryoma sighed. She was hitting so well against the wall earlier during her warm-up today. Why was she not hitting like that now? He hit her another ball to start another rally, watching her closely to see why she wasn't performing as well like she was in her warm-up. Then he found the reason. Sakuno wasn't watching the ball when she hit it. What was she looking at anyway? Ryoma watched more closely to see where her eyes were looking when she hit it. He smirked. She was looking at him while she hit every shot.

"Ryuuzaki," Ryoma started, "keep your focus on the ball instead of staring at me."

"Ryoma-kun, I'm not staring!" Sakuno blushed.

"Yes you are. In fact, since I'm distracting you so much from your practice, maybe you should go hit against the wall again today. That way, you won't be able to see me."

"Mou, Ryoma-kun, the wall is so boring," said Sakuno, but she walked over to the wall anyway.

Ryoma smirked at her as she made her way over to the wall again. He resumed his position of resting his head against his arms while leaning on the fence. Watching Sakuno, he was able to see what she needed to fix her shots on. 'Knees too bent, arms too straight,….hair's too long,' he thought. Talk about déjà vu; this was exactly what Sakuno had the most trouble on five years ago.

Sakuno was getting frustrated. Her shots just weren't going right today. She was fine during warm-up, but that was before Ryoma decided to endlessly tease her today. Knowing that he was watching her made her a little nervous. That was part of the reason why she was playing so badly right now, but something was still off. Wait—Ryoma was watching her. He's her instructor right? 'Maybe I'll just ask him what I'm doing wrong so I can get better,' Sakuno suddenly thought.

"Ryoma-kun, what am I doing--" Sakuno started to say as she turned around to face him, only to see him two feet away from her.

"—Knees to bent," Ryoma interrupted her. Then he took a step forward so that he was almost touching her. "Arms too straight," he said quieter.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno asked.

Taking one more step towards her, he whispered, "Hair's too long." He ran his fingers through her ponytail.

"R-Ryoma-kun, m-my hair is not too l-long," Sakuno quietly stuttered back, becoming distracted by Ryoma playing with her hair.

Ryoma found her the hair binder that was in her hair, and slowly, carefully, started to pull it down to let her hair loose.

"R-Ryoma-kun, what are y-you d-doing?" Sakuno finally stuttered out. His gaze was putting her in a trance.

Ryoma smirked at her and decided to run his fingers through her hair some more, getting closer and closer to her.

"Ryuuzaki," he said in a low voice, "you're blushing and stuttering again. Are you sure you don't like me anymore?"

"I-I-I….a-ano…I-I'm n-not changing m-my mind," Sakuno tried to speak coherently.

"Hn, well you're staring at me again. I think I'm changing your mind," Ryoma whispered dangerously in her ear and got closer to her.

"A-Ano," Sakuno could barely speak while looking into Ryoma's smoldering eyes. It took all her will-power to look away and turn her head down, looking at the ground. "A-Ano, I-I think m-my l-lesson time is u-up. I don't w-want to b-be taking y-your t-time away f-from you." Then she hurriedly walked past him and put her racket away in her bag.

Ryoma smirked the entire time watching Sakuno becoming flustered. As she walked away out of the courts, Ryoma said to himself, "Hn, looks like I'm winning, Ryuuzaki. Fifteen to love."


	5. Chapter 5

Sakuno was all prepared for her lesson today with Ryoma. She had her racket, water bottle, sunscreen, and, most importantly, her determination to not let Ryoma get into her head. She knew she was breaking. Every time she looked into Ryoma's eyes, she forgot what she was just doing. Every time he teased her, her heart would race. And every time he touched her, she so badly wanted to let her guard down.

But she can't let her guard down. She doesn't want to get hurt. She's liked him for so long that if he ever left, she would be scarred for life.

So this time she came to practice prepared. Echizen Ryoma was not going to get the best of her—he was not going to win.

Arriving at the courts, Sakuno looked around and found Ryoma lying in the grass with his arms crossed under his head. He looked like he were deep in thought, his eyes glazed over looking at the clouds right above him.

"Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno quietly made her presence known.

Ryoma turned his head toward Sakuno's voice and smiled. "Ryuuzaki," he greeted. Then he got up and walked over to the courts. "Let's start warming up," he instructed.

"H-Hai, Ryo—ano, Echizen," Sakuno obeyed, correcting herself from calling him _Ryoma-kun_. She decided that if she was ever going to get over this crush, then she would have to stop calling him by the childhood name she gave him. Calling him by his last name sounded more professional, and, therefore, she hoped, would make her view him as her tennis instructor _only_.

Ryoma turned around to look at her and narrowed his eyebrows. "Echizen? What happened to_ Ryoma-kun_?" he asked her.

"Well, you are my instructor, so I thought it would only be proper to call you by your last name," Sakuno responded.

"You don't need to call me _Echizen_. You've known me long enough."

"But it's only polite, acknowledging authority when under the circumstance."

Ryoma was confused. Why the sudden change in Sakuno calling his name? All Ryoma knew was that he didn't like it—it sounded too formal. And formal was not what Ryoma was going for with Sakuno.

"And under my authority, you will not call me _Echizen_," Ryoma smirked at her victoriously.

Sakuno rolled her eyes. Did he have to win at everything? She told herself to brush it off and not let it bother her, so she went to go pick up her racket to start warming up.

Ryoma, noticing Sakuno picking up her racket, quickly placed his hand over wrist. Sakuno looked up, confused.

"Actually," Ryoma started, "I've just decided to make a change in plans. No tennis today."

"What?" Sakuno asked, not understanding what this sudden change in plans was.

"Today your lesson will be Get to Know Your Instructor Day," Ryoma stated matter-of-factly.

Sakuno, getting upset that everything she prepared for about Ryoma was being thwarted, responded a little snippy, "Umm, actually, since my grandmother is paying you for tennis lessons for me, you're going to teach me tennis today. We are not doing whatever this Get to Know Your Instructor thing is because, frankly, you're right: I _have_ known you long enough and I don't need to know you more."

Surprised that Sakuno could actually talk back like that, Ryoma discovered some new-found entertainment. He's never seen Sakuno get so wiled up before, and he wants to see how much more he can push out of her. So, being entertained, Ryoma smirked back, "Don't worry, this new change of plans is still fitting under the 'tennis lessons' category. You see, Ryuuzaki, tennis is as much of a mental game as it is a physical game. And, mentally, you would have to trust that your coach is training you correctly for your matches. Otherwise, if you doubt your coach's training during your match, you start to doubt your own ability to play well."

Sakuno didn't know what to say for a comeback because what Ryoma said about tennis being as mental as physical was true. Seeing that Sakuno was speechless, Ryoma smirked at her once again and said, "Now, Ryuuzaki, are you ready to start today's lesson?"

"H-Hai, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno obliged, returning back to her normal stuttering self. She could not believe that everything she had prepared last night had all gone to waste in a matter of five minutes. How was she going to get out of this one? Getting to know Ryoma more is definitely not going to help her end this crush.

Ryoma smiled to himself, knowing that Sakuno couldn't have stayed wiled up for long; she was like putty in his hands.

Ryoma started walking toward the tennis courts and motioned for Sakuno to follow him. Once they entered inside, Ryoma turned around and faced Sakuno with a smirk on his face.

"Ryuuzaki," he said, "I'm feeling a little nostalgic." He then threw a tennis ball at her that he had kept in his pocket. Sakuno clumsily caught it and saw a drawing of Ryoma's face on it. She gasped as she realized that that was the tennis ball Ryoma had asked for from her five years ago before he left for America.

Then he walked towards her again and took her racket out of her hand.

"We're going to get your racket restrung today," he continued.

"What? B-but Ryoma-kun, I d-didn't bring any money today," Sakuno answered.

"Hn, it's on me."

Ryoma started walking in the direction towards town, and Sakuno followed him, keeping her distance behind him. Sakuno fiddled with her hands and looked down at her shoes as she walked. 'Mou,' she thought, 'I can't fall back into this habit again.' She tried to get herself to walk beside Ryoma, but every time she got closer to him, she would get nervous and fall back again.

Neither one said anything on the way there, so Sakuno was relieved when they finally reached the place to get her racket strung. While Ryoma went inside, Sakuno decided to wait outside by the door for him. After five minutes, Ryoma came back out.

"Ryuuzaki," he said to get her attention.

Sakuno looked up and Ryoma held up a Ponta to her face. She smiled a bit and thanked him. Then they walked over to the bridge while they waited for Sakuno's racket to be done.

Sipping their Pontas looking over the bridge at the water, Ryoma was deep in thought. Sakuno would steal sideways glances at him every now and then and would blush every time. Ryoma caught one of her glances and decided to tease her.

"Ryuuzaki," he put on a smug face, "why do blush every time you glance at me?"

"A-Ah! I'm not b-blushing, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno tried to defend herself.

"Well then why is your face all red?"

"It's h-hot outside. It's the s-sun. Y-yeah, it's the sun!" Sakuno poorly stuttered out.

He smirked at her then said in a lighter tone, "I'm just teasing you, Ryuuzaki."

Sakuno blushed even more and pouted, "Mou!"

She felt Ryoma staring at her and she tensed up.

"Ryuuzaki?" Ryoma started.

Sakuno looked up, only to find Ryoma face to face with her. She stared into his smoldering eyes, getting lost in them.

"Why are you always so nervous around me?" he asked seriously.

Sakuno thought about it for a moment. Why was she always so nervous around him? Ever since she was twelve she's been like that around him. She realized that she acted that way when she was younger because she cared about what he thought about her. So why does she act like that now? She's not supposed to like him anymore! Why can't this crush go away?

"I-I don't know," she lied.

"Hn," Ryoma responded, not satisfied with her answer. "You don't have to be nervous around me, you know." He took one step closer and put his hands on her arms. "You can trust me." He lowered his face down and came closer and closer, but Sakuno, not being totally sure of whether or not she should still like him, ducked her head.

"I-I think my r-racket is ready, Ryoma-kun," she blushed and said quietly.

Ryoma just smirked at her and then turned around and walked inside the store. Sakuno sighed. What was she going to decide? She was so confused! She wants Ryoma, but she's scared of opening up to him and getting hurt.

Ryoma walked back outside holding Sakuno's racket. "I'll walk you home," he said, implying that their tennis lesson was over for the day.

Sakuno feeling awkward in complete silence, thought of things to say to start a conversation. "Ryoma-kun?" she asked.

"Hn?"

"Why do you like tennis so much?"

"Hn," he thought. As they rounded the corner to Sakuno's house, he thought of a response. They stopped at her door and he answered, "I like a challenge. And if there's one thing that tennis has taught me, it's to never give up, Ryuuzaki." Then that all-too-familiar gleam went through his eyes as Sakuno felt like he was staring straight through her. "And I won't give up, Ryuuzaki," he added with a smug smile. All of a sudden, Sakuno felt his lips on her cheek. It happened all in a flash of a second—so fast that Sakuno couldn't have had any time to respond.

Sakuno stood there speechless as she watched Ryoma walk away. As he was walking, he took another tennis ball out of his pocket and held it victoriously in the air. The tennis ball read, "No. 1 Nationals."


	6. Chapter 6

"Sakuno, does this all sound like déjà vu to you?" Tomoka asked. Sakuno just finished telling Tomoka about her lesson with Ryoma.

"What do you mean, Tomo-chan?" Sakuno tilted her head, confused.

"Well, everything he did during your 'lesson' was all reminders of the past. He brought you to the place where you two had your first date, the racket stringer—"

"That was not a date!" Sakuno blushed a deep red. "We were just twelve year old kids getting my racket restrung!"

"Sakuno, just let me finish, okay?"

"Mou!"  
"Anyway, like I was saying, he brought you to the place where you two had your first date at the racket stringer's, then he shows you that he still has _both_ of the tennis balls you gave him when you were kids. Sakuno, this is how Ryoma is trying to tell you that he remembers you and that you made an impact on his life back then. It actually sounds like this 'Get to Know Your Instructor Day' was his sly idea of going out on a date with you so he could get to know _you_."

Sakuno was speechless. Now that she thought of it, everything he did that day was like déjà vu, but she still didn't' believe that that was Ryoma's way of going out on a date with her. "Tomoka, that wasn't a date. I don't like him anymore, remember?"

"Are you sure, Sakuno-chan? I mean, when you were telling me about your 'lesson' with Ryoma, you sounded like you enjoyed it. You had fun with him, Sakuno. And it sounds like you _still do _like him."

"I-I," Sakuno stuttered, trying to come up with a good comeback, "I c-can have f-fun with him just as f-friends, Tomo-chan! Just b-because I had fun with h-him, doesn't mean I h-have to like him!"

"I think you're still in love with him, Sakuno. You're falling for him again."

"Mou, no! It's not going to happen," Sakuno declared stubbornly.

"Alright, whatever you say, but I have to go home now to baby-sit my brothers. Call me tomorrow after your lesson with Ryoma-sama and give me an update!" Tomoka told her as she walked out the door.

"Mou, what am I going to do?" Sakuno complained to herself.

Sakuno walked up to the tennis court noticing that Ryoma was already all set up for the lesson today.

"Ryuuzaki," he nodded.

"H-hi, Ryoma-kun," she greeted back.

"Start warming up; we've got a lot of training to do today," Ryoma instructed, clearly not wanting to waste any time.

Sakuno looked around the court and saw orange cones set up everywhere. She carefully maneuvered her way around the cones to reach the wall for her to warm up.

Excited for some real, hard training today, Sakuno finished her warm-up quickly. "Ryoma-kun, I'm done…warming up…now," she panted out.

Ryoma noticed the little beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. "Here's your water," he tossed her water bottle to her.

Right as Sakuno finished drinking her water, Ryoma wiped the sweat off her face with his towel.

"I-I can g-get my own towel, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno told him.

"It's fine, Ryuuzaki."

Just as Sakuno was getting comfortable staring into his eyes while he was cooling her down with his towel, Ryoma said, "Okay, let's get started with today's lesson."

"H-huh?" Sakuno asked, shaking herself out of her daze.

Ryoma chuckled to himself. "Was I distracting you again, Ryuuzaki?"

Sakuno blushed, but this time didn't give a comeback to deny it.

Seeing that she had nothing to say, Ryoma continued, "Anyway, like I said earlier, we should get started because we have a lot to cover. Three weeks from now you will be trained enough to enter into the Girls High School Tournament."

"B-but, Ryoma-kun, didn't my grandmother tell you that Seigaku doesn't have a girls team anymore?" Sakuno asked, confused.

"Hai, I remember, but you don't have to be a member of a high school team to enter the tournament. I've already entered you into the tournament, so now all that you have to do is train hard for it."

"R-Really, Ryoma-kun? You really entered me into the tournament? Thank you so much, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno excitedly exclaimed, her eyes shining brightly. Then she gave him a quick hug.

Ryoma was surprised by this sudden outburst of Sakuno, and his eyes widened when she hugged him tightly. The hug ended all too quickly for him, though, and said, "What else do I have to do to get more hugs from you, Ryuuzaki?"

"R-Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno blushed.

Then he smiled and replied, "Ne, Ryuuzaki, I don't ever remember you hugging me when you liked me when we were kids. Does a hug mean you love me then?"

"R-Ryoma-kun! Th-that was just a th-thank you hug!" Sakuno stuttered.

Ryoma laughed, "Alright, alright, Ryuuzaki. We'll get started on the lesson for the day."

He took out a skinny, long piece of cloth from his pocket. Sakuno realized it was supposed to be a blindfold once he tied it around her head, covering her eyes. Then Ryoma explained, "Today you're going to work on _listening_ to where the ball is going. Sometimes your opponent can trick your eyes by making it seem like she's going to hit to one side of the court when, really, she's going to hit it to the other. Working on your listening skills will help you to not rely on what you see, but on what you hear."

Sakuno was getting a little worried. How was she supposed to play tennis without being able to see anything? There were cones all over the court that she was going to trip on! "B-But, how am I going to know where the cones are with my eyes covered?"

"That, Ryuuzaki, is a hidden lesson with our lesson today. The hidden lesson is that you will be learning to trust me. I'm not going to feed you a ball where you are forced to run towards a cone. You're going to have to trust me that I won't make you run into any. So, are you ready?"

"N-No," Sakuno whispered. She really did not like not being able to see anything.

"Do you trust me?" Ryoma asked quietly.

"A-Ano," Sakuno paused. "…..h-hai."

Ryoma smiled and took hold of both her wrists to guide her to the baseline of the court, making sure she wouldn't trip over any cones.

"Okay, I'm going to head over to the other side, and I'll start hitting some balls over the net. Don't worry; I'll make it easy at first."

While Ryoma was making his way over to the other side of the court, Sakuno was trying to calm herself down. _Okay, Sakuno, _she thought, _You can do this. It'll be alright. I trust Ryoma-kun…wait, since when do I trust Ryoma-kun? Oh well, I can't think about that now. I have to focus on tennis._

"Here I go, Ryuuzaki. The first one will be on your right. Listen to what it sounds like when the racket hits the ball in that direction, and then remember that sound. Whenever you hear that same sound, you'll know that the ball will be going towards your right," Ryoma instructed.

He hit the ball lightly, and Sakuno listened intently.

_Pok_.

She heard the ball being hit. Listening even more intently still, she could hear the ball going through the air. It sounded like wind. The noise was getting closer and closer. Finally, she thought it was close enough for her to swing to hit it. She swung and…

"Ryuuzaki! That was…wow…nice shot," Ryoma praised her.

Sakuno was shocked. Did Ryoma really just complement her? That must've been a pretty good shot. Even Sakuno herself didn't even know she was that good.

"Ok, now I'm going to hit a few more easy ones, just for you to get used to it," Ryoma told her.

Sakuno hit every one back, all landing inside the court lines.

"Ryuuzaki, I'm going to make you move now, so it'll be a little bit harder."

Ryoma hit the first one further to the right of her body. Sakuno, not wanting to trip over a cone, slowly walked over to her right to reach the ball. She could hear it moving through the air, but it still sounded farther away from her. Then, the sound of a tennis ball hitting the back fence was heard.

"Ryuuzaki, you have to get to the ball faster if you want to hit it. You're going to have to run, or at least jog to it. Walking's not going to work."

"But I'm afraid I'm going to trip over a cone."

"I thought you said you trusted me."

"H-Hai, I d-did," Sakuno slowly said, remembering.

"Do you really trust me or are you just saying that?" Ryoma pushed.

Sakuno thought about his question for real now. Out of the past five weeks of her lessons, he's never given a reason for her not to trust him. Even when they were kids she was always able to trust him; in fact, she always thought of him as her knight in shining armor, saving her from all the bullies at school.

"Hai!" she answered confidently.

"Good," he smiled, sounding a little relieved.

Ryoma hit the ball again to the same place as before, and this time Sakuno not only _ran_ to the ball, but _sprinted_ to it. She got there with enough time to spare before she had to swing at it.

Surprised at Sakuno's sprint towards the ball, Ryoma realized that Sakuno trusted him; he was slowly breaking down those walls that she put up around herself from him.

Ryoma kept training her until she was out of breath. "Nice job today, Ryuuzaki. I'll be right over to take off your blindfold."

Ryoma made his way over to Sakuno and untied her blindfold.

When Sakuno could see again, she was looking straight into Ryoma's eyes. They were just so golden, so deep, so –

"Ryuuzaki, are you listening?" Ryoma interrupted her thoughts.

Oops. Apparently Sakuno was spacing out for awhile looking into his eyes again. She really was failing at her plan of proving to Tomoka that she wasn't in love with Ryoma.

"O-Oh, g-gomen, Ryoma-kun," Sakuno blushed and looked down at her shoes.

Ryoma just smirked at her and turned around to walk towards the bench.

Sakuno followed right after him, forgetting all about the obstacle of cones on the tennis court.

_Clunk_.

As soon as Ryoma heard the noise of a cone falling over, he turned around just in time to catch a falling Sakuno in his arms. Sakuno looked up at him and blushed.

"Ne, looks like you're falling for me, Ryuuzaki," Ryoma smirked. He helped her stand up straight and made his way back over to the bench.

Sakuno stayed where she was, watching him. "Maybe I am falling for Ryoma-kun," she whispered to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ryoma-kun, what am I working on for today?" Sakuno asked after she was warmed up.

"Your serve," Ryoma answered, not looking up from his clipboard to look at her. In fact, Sakuno noticed that Ryoma hadn't been paying much attention to her at all today. However, Sakuno did not know that Ryoma was using a new approach on Sakuno to prove that she still liked him.

Before practice today, Ryoma was realizing that Sakuno was slowly letting him back into her life, but he was getting impatient with this slow pace, so he decided to try a new approach to speed things up. This new approach was the approach of ignoring the girl to make her annoyed and realize that she likes his attention on her.

Sakuno was a little confused as to why Ryoma hadn't started teasing her yet, but she just figured that he was still thinking through and planning today's lesson.

Sakuno stood in front of Ryoma, who was sitting on the bench writing on his clipboard. She stood there for awhile, waiting for his instruction of what to do next, but he seemed to be intent on scribbling whatever he was writing.

Finally, she got tired of waiting. "What do you want me to do now?"

"Umm, how about you go grab a hopper of tennis balls and just practice your serve," he responded, again not looking up.

"Ano, okay…" Sakuno replied, not totally sure how this was special training to help her prepare for that tournament.

Soon, she served through the whole hopper of balls. Looking over at Ryoma to see if she was to do anything after she finished serving, she saw that Ryoma was no longer writing on his clipboard—instead, he was taking a nap on the bench, with his hat over his eyes.

She walked over to him and lifted his hat off his eyes. "Ano, Ryoma-kun."

"Hn?"

"I finished serving, now what?"

"Serve some more. Work on aiming for specific targets," Ryoma answered without opening his eyes.

Sakuno walked back over to the court and worked on her aim. She alternated the corners she wanted to hit the ball to, and then she worked on the consistency of her aim. However, it was not at the speed or power she felt she needed for the tournament.

"Ryoma-kun," she turned back towards Ryoma, who was still taking his cat-nap. "How do I get more power on my serve?"

"Hit it harder," was all he said.

Sakuno was getting annoyed. Was Ryoma ignoring her today? After teasing her endlessly the past six weeks, did he finally decide to stop? Right as she finally decided to let him in again, he changed his mind and decided that he didn't want her. _Inconsistent jerk_, she thought angrily.

Hitting the ball as hard as she could to release her frustrations, the ball landed outside the court. After hitting a few more angry hits, she finally cooled down enough to focus again on working on her serve. Every serve she hit harder, however, kept landing out. _Why do they keep going out?_ she thought, clearly upset that Ryoma's advice wasn't working.

"Mou! Ryoma-kun, I'm hitting it harder, but my serve won't land in anymore," she complained.

Ryoma was in a new position on the bench, but he was still sleeping. His hat had fallen to the ground, but his right arm was now over his eyes.

"Bend your knees, wobbly hips," he said, pulling out her old nickname, still covering his eyes.

"Hmph!" Sakuno stomped off angrily, not appreciating being called her middle school nickname. She made her way back over to the court and, once again, started serving. Her arm was half-way up in the air, when she paused to see if Ryoma was watching. He wasn't. Wait. Why wasn't he watching? He was her coach; he's supposed to be watching her to tell her what she needs to improve on!

That's it. She's had enough of his ignoring her. Stomping her way over to Ryoma, she yelled, "Ryoma Echizen! Why aren't you watching?! You are my coach, so how are you supposed to coach me if you're not watching? Sleeping on the job is not allowed!"

This caught Ryoma's attention. He opened his eyes and sat up on the bench. He responded "innocently" with, "Well, Ryuuzaki, I thought you didn't like to be watched, so I assumed you wanted your space."

"Well, you assumed wrong, Echizen," she spit back, icily.

"So you actually want me to watch you?"

"Yes," she said and crossed her arms like a child having a temper tantrum.

"Fine. Get back on the court and I'll watch you from the other side." Ryoma got up and made his way over to the court, smiling to himself, ecstatic that his plan had succeeded.

Once Sakuno saw Ryoma on the other side of the court, she started to serve. She hit all the corners of the service box.

"Hn, looks like your aim is good. Now add some more power to it," Ryoma instructed.

Sakuno took a ball and served it a little harder.

"You still need more power, Ryuuzaki. Hit it harder."

"Well, if you were actually listening earlier, you would have remembered that I told you it always lands out if I hit it harder," Sakuno replied, still sounding upset.

Ryoma smartly replied back, "And if you remember correctly, I told you to bend your knees."

Sakuno tossed the ball up and bent her knees, springing up to hit the ball.

"Better," Ryoma said, "but it still needs to be harder."

Sakuno served up another one, not forgetting to bend her knees, giving it more power than what she had before.

"Harder."

She served another one and another. But the harder she hit the ball, the less accurate her aim became.

"Ryuuzaki, don't lose control of your aim."

Sakuno bunched her eyebrows together, concentrating really hard. She served another ball once again. Her power she just discovered was still there, but her aim was still a little off.

"Ryuuzaki, you gotta aim for what you want."

Bending her knees and keeping her focus, she sprung up and swung down at the ball. She looked up just in time to see the ball smack into Ryoma.

Ryoma teased, "Ryuuzaki, I didn't know you wanted me that bad."

"Mou, Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno yelled, but because serving was good at letting out all her frustrations, she had none left. Instead of staying upset over his teasing, she actually started to enjoy it. And she gave a small smile.

Noticing that small smile with his cat-like eyes, Ryoma smirked and walked over to her.

"Do you want me, Ryuuzaki?" he asked seriously.

This time Sakuno decided that she was going to be the one teasing him, not the other way around. She smirked and said, "Hn, mada mada dane, Echizen."

Then she turned around and packed her things and left.

Ryoma chuckled and smiled to himself, watching her walk down the sidewalk until she was too far for him to see. He stayed there a bit longer, gladly knowing that she finally let him in to her life again, completely.


	8. Chapter 8

The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue, cloudless sky during Ryoma and Sakuno's next tennis lesson. It wasn't too windy, and it wasn't too hot. Today was perfect tennis weather.

Sakuno came to practice looking all cute and nice, Ryoma noticed. She was wearing a frilly bright pink tennis skirt, with a black racer-back tank top that had bright pink stripes down the back to match her skirt. Her hair was up in a messy bun, letting some strands of hair frame her face. Sakuno looked stunning today, and Ryoma pulled his cap down further over his head to hide the blush creeping up on his cheeks.

"You look nice, Ryuuzaki," he commented.

Sakuno smiled and blushed. Looking down at her feet, she said, "Thanks, Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma smiled, then he said, "After today's lesson, there's only one more week left until your tournament. Do you think you're ready?" he asked.

"Hai, but I'm a little nervous," she admitted.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," he reassured, ruffling her hair. Then to ease up her nerves, he put back on his teasing face and said, "But you're still mada mada dane compared to me."

"Mou! Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno flushed. "Well, I don't have to be as good as you. It's not like I'm going pro," Sakuno defended herself.

Ryoma chuckled, amused at how defensive Sakuno could get. "I'm just teasing you, Ryuuzaki."

Sakuno blushed, but was happy at the same time that Ryoma was teasing her. It was a great comfort to have him start the lesson off like his normal self, unlike last lesson where he didn't even pay any attention to her for almost the entire time.

"So, like I said, you only have a week left until your tournament. You've made some pretty good improvements so far too, like your groundstrokes, your serve, and… your admitting you want me…" Ryoma teased again.

"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno yelled again.

Ryoma grinned widely, loving the reactions he's getting out of Sakuno. Then he decided to give Sakuno a break, seeing that she looked like she was going to pass out due to embarrassment. "You're improving fast, Ryuuzaki," he said, beginning to get serious again, "but there's still one thing left we have to work on. And that is your volleys."

"Hai, I'll go warm up first then, Ryoma-kun."  
"Hn."

Sakuno walked over to the wall to warm-up while Ryoma laid across the bench and watched her. She really did look pretty today. Before he knew it, Ryoma was caught up in a trance, watching her practice.

When Sakuno was done, she walked back up to him, asking, "Okay, Ryoma-kun, I'm ready to start practicing my volleys for today. Ryoma-kun. Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma just kept staring at her, looking at her beautiful face, and not realizing that Sakuno was actually talking to him. It was then that he felt a hand rest on his forehead that he realized Sakuno was talking to him.

"Ryoma-kun? Are you feeling okay?"

"Hn, oh, yeah, sorry, Ryuuzaki," Ryoma said flustered. He swatted her hand away to pull his hat down to cover his quickly reddening face, all the while scrambling to his feet off the bench.

Trying to regain his cool composure again he took a deep breath and turned away from Sakuno. Taking his hat off, he ran his hand through his hair, exhaling. Finally regaining his cool, he put his cap back on and turned towards Sakuno again.

"Let's go to the court and get started then," Ryoma said and guided her by placing his hand on her back.

Upon feeling Ryoma's hand on her back, Sakuno looked up at Ryoma's face.

Ryoma could feel her staring at him, and he turned his head to face her. He stopped walking and found himself in that trance again. This time, however, this trance captivated him even more. Ryoma found himself being pulled towards her. His face kept lowering closer to hers.

Sakuno held her breath, not knowing what to do. Ryoma kept lowering his face closer to hers, but she didn't know what to do! She always dreamed of the moment that Echizen Ryoma would kiss her, but she wasn't ready yet!

With Ryoma only an inch away from her lips, Sakuno averted her gaze and turned her head to the side.

Ryoma paused where he was at. Then he smirked at Sakuno and decided to kiss her on top of her head.

Sakuno, reverting back to her shy self, kept staring at her shoes, avoiding Ryoma's gaze. Ryoma lifted her face up by placing his finger under her chin, and asked, "Ready to start practicing?"

"Wh-what?" Sakuno stuttered, still being affected by the kiss on her forehead.

Ryoma rolled his eyes, jokingly. "Ryuuzaki, you should be focusing more on training for your tournament than on me," he winked.

"Mou! Ryoma-kun!"

They made their way over to the court and stood at the opposite ends.

"Ryuuzaki," Ryoma switched from his teasing tone to his instructor voice, "I want you to make your way up to the net, eventually hitting volleys. I'm going to keep drilling you with tennis balls, but you have to get up to the net fast and be quick on your feet."

Ryoma started to hit tennis balls towards Sakuno. She hit them back flawlessly.

"Now start coming in to the net," Ryoma told her.

Sakuno did as she was told, but as soon as she was halfway up to the net, the balls would start landing right at her feet, which made it too difficult for her to return.

Missing more than a few of the balls being hit at her feet, Sakuno started to get frustrated.

"Why is this so difficult?!" Sakuno muttered to herself. She had her hand in a fist and hit it against her forehead in frustration.

Ryoma thought Sakuno's frustrated actions were cute, but he stifled his laugh and decided it best to be a coach at this moment.

"Ryuuzaki, try to get to the net faster. That way the ball won't be landing at your feet and you can then hit it in the air."

Sakuno went back to her starting position, ready for the next round. She was trying Ryoma's advice of getting to the net faster. It took a little work, but eventually she got up there in no time.

Once that problem was solved, another one soon showed up. When she got up to the net, so many shots were passing right by her. She wasn't able to get to them in time!

"Mou!" Sakuno yelled. "Ryoma-kun, why is this so hard?" she cried out, desperate for any help to solve this problem.

This time, Ryoma couldn't hold back his laughter as he jumped over the net onto her side of the court. He walked over to her and smiled, "I've never you seen you this determined before, Ryuuzaki."

Sakuno blushed as she thought about her behavior, "G-Gomen, Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma blinked, confused as to what she was apologizing for. "Hn? No, it's good to be determined."

"Oh, okay," she shyly replied.

"Anyway, the reason why all those balls are flying passed you is because you need to close in on the net more. Without me hitting any tennis balls towards you, let me see your footwork as you run up to the net and then stop where you think you should be to volley."

Ryoma stayed on Sakuno's side of the court to coach her more conveniently. Watching Sakuno run up to the net, he saw that Sakuno's footwork was excellent. Her problem was with how far away from the net she still was. "Ryuuzaki, do it again. You still have to be closer to the net."

Sakuno walked back to the end of the court and ran her footwork through again, stopping closer to the net. Apparently, she was still not close enough because Ryoma called out again, "You still need to be closer. Stay where you are, and I'll run through it to show you where you need to be when you stop."

Ryoma walked to the end of the court and went through his footwork. As he got closer to where Sakuno was standing on the court, he grabbed Sakuno's shoulders and gently pushed her backwards closer to the net.

"This is where you should be," Ryoma told her, his hands still on her shoulders and Sakuno still facing him. "Understood?" he asked, gazing into her eyes.

Looking up at him, Sakuno nodded and stuttered, "H-Hai."

As Sakuno was looking up at him, she noticed that the look in his eyes changed. His eyes went from his instructive, teacher gaze to his smoldering, captivating gaze.

Then Ryoma repeated again, in a softer tone, "This is where you should be." He lowered his face towards her lips, cupping his right hand under her chin and wrapping his left arm around her waist, bringing her closer to him. Lightly touching his lips on hers, he lingered there for a moment before sweeping Sakuno off her feet with another sweet kiss.


End file.
